Chaps sweep Oklahoma City; Winning streak at 27 games

Chris Holguin knows how important conference games can be down the stretch, and Lubbock Christian University's senior pitcher did not disappoint in his performance against No. 5 Oklahoma City.

In the second game of a Sooner Athletic Conference doubleheader at Hays Field, Holguin had 14 strikeouts and no walks in seven innings to lead No. 2 LCU to a 6-0 victory, bringing the Chaparrals (34-1, 20-0 SAC) within one win of tying the school-record 28-game winning streak from 1982.

"These two wins are huge. This is the team to beat," said Holguin, whose team faces OCU again at 1 p.m. today. "These guys are really good. You can't put anything past them. It always come down to us and them."

Holguin (7-0) lowered his earned-run average to 2.09 with 69 strikeouts and 15 walks this season.

All season, Oklahoma City has put up impressive offensive statistics, but LCU right-hander Gary Poynter set the tone in the first game. He went 52/3 innings while allowing three runs on seven hits in an 8-3 win.

Friday's games were only the second and third times this season that the Stars (35-6, 15-4) lost by more than one run.

LCU coach Nathan Blackwood said he thought Poynter's performance was the difference in settling down a dangerous hitting team that has scored 418 runs this season, and Holguin's dominating pitching secured the doubleheader.

"Holguin, when his split is on, it's an unhittable pitch," Blackwood said. "To go along with a 93-94 (mph) fastball, he kept them off balance good."

Pair the solid pitching with a total of 16 hits on the day, and it was a difficult product for OCU to overcome.

"To beat a team like this two games already, that's saying that these guys are getting ready to play," Blackwood said.

Although it seems like the Chaps could not gain any more momentum, Holguin acknowledged that beating a high-performance team like OCU really boosts LCU's confidence.

The first game came down to the bottom of the sixth inning. With a slim 4-3 lead, LCU tacked on four more runs to seal Poynter's ninth win of the season.

The Stars' Mike Lee got off to a shaky start in the first game, which played right into the Chaps' hands.

"We felt pretty comfortable. We weren't trying to press at all," Holguin said. "We came to practice the whole week, not changing anything, not doing anything different. We're gonna use the same approach we've been using, and it turned out good for us."

Lee entered the game with a 2.28 ERA and had given up nine walks all season. The Chaps were patient with Lee, drawing four walks and scoring four runs in the first inning.

Junior Jaime Armendariz was the catalyst, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs. His RBI double down the left-field line in the sixth inning ignited the four-run spurt that closed the door on the first game.

OCU committed costly errors on the day, none more important than an easy infield play that was mishandled, allowing Tyler Johnson to reach base for LCU in the second game.

Consequently, the Chaps scored two runs in the inning before tacking on four more in the fifth.

"I was really proud of our hitters," Blackwood said. "The at-bats that they had at the plate, really forced (OCU's) pitchers to throw a lot of pitches, and not swinging at bad pitches. Our guys got some big hits late."

Armendariz said rather than dwelling on the pressure that normally comes with a winning streak, the team is more focused on trying to finish a sweep.